Christmas with the Ratliffs
by Writer-Sage3
Summary: When Rydel and Ratliff spend time with his family in Florida the line between friends and something more get a little blurred. What will the dynamic duo do when Rydel leaves the Ratliff family on a bittersweet note?


**Christmas with the Ratliffs: A Rydellington Story**

The Lynch kids and Ratliff were hanging out in the living room of their hotel in Orlando watching tv and looking at their social media sites. Rydel had posted a photo of mistletoe on her Instagram and the R5 family was going crazy. Her and Ellington had decided it would be fun to see what the fans were writing in response to the photo.  
>"I wonder if this means she kissed someone under the mistletoe?" Rydel read aloud, trying not to laugh.<br>"Well did you?" Ross asked jokingly from the couch  
>"Oh yeah, I totally did" she retorted back to her younger brother<br>"You did?" Riker asked seriously, going into over protective big brother mode  
>"No Riker! I've been with at least one of you the whole time we've been here, you all would have seen that happen" she explained as she rolled her eyes.<br>"You could have kissed Ratliff while you were with him this morning, no one else was there" Rocky accusatorially joked. His sister and best friend both turned a light pink while everyone in the room laughed at the joke. The very minimal awkwardness that had just occurred was broken by Stormie walking into the room.  
>"Everyone ready to get going? Our flight to Colorado leaves in a few hours and we need to get through security" She asked her kids, including Ratliff<br>"Our bags are all packed and by the door" Riker told his mom as he pointed to their suitcases.  
>"Let's get going then" Mark told them as he walked into the room with his and Stormie's luggage. All the kids got up and grabbed their bags. As they walked outside the hotel they saw the two separate cars coming to pick the group up.<br>"We'll see you in a few days Delly, Ratliff we'll see you after Christmas?" Riker asked as he hugged the keyboardist and drummer good bye.  
>"Yeah, I'll meet you in Denver before we fly back to LA for rehearsals for new years eve" Ratliff replied as he was saying his goodbyes to the lynch family, minus Rydel.<br>"We'll see you then Ellington, make sure nothing happens to Rydel while she's here with you. If something happens, I'll be coming after you" Mark said sternly as he hugged his little princess.  
>"I would never let anything bad happen to her sir, she'd kill me before you had the chance if that happened." Ell replied<br>"He has a very valid point daddy" Rydel affirmed as she walked over to Ratliff since she was done with her goodbyes, "I'm only here for what 2 more days? I'll be fine".  
>With the goodbyes done and the warnings made, the R5 family split up, the Lynch boys and parents in a car to go to the airport, Rydel and Ellington in a car to his family's house.<p>

-

It wasn't that odd that it was just her visiting the Ratliff family, her and Cheryl were close, she was like a daughter to her. Cheryl asked Stormie and Rydel if they wanted to stay a few extra days, do a Disney World visit for just the girls. Stormie had to turn the trip down however, Rydel accepted the invitation, she loved Ell's family...and Disneyworld. The first day she spent with the Ratliff's they went to Disney World, and had a fun day, the ladies stayed in to catch up while the guys went out for dinner at night. The next day they spent all together, eating, and having fun. They took photos together to commemorate the visit, and when asked if it was okay to post the pictures naturally said yes. Both Rydel and Ellington knew what was coming when the pictures were posted, all the shippers would have a field day with the photo of just them visiting Ell's family. The rydellington tag on all the social media sites would go crazy with the pictures, but despite the chaos it was bound to create they were okay with it. They were in his family's living room hanging out when they decided to see what the shippers were saying. As the duo got settled on couch with ellingtons laptop they decided to log on to tumblr first.  
>"Let's see" Rydel replied as she read through some posts in the rydellington tag, "this one says, Why are they messing with all my feels, don't they know that's not fair"<br>"These shippers and their feels" Ratliff replied  
>"Ooh look at this caption" Rydel pointed out<br>"Ellington and his two favorite girls, AWH" Ellington read aloud "That ones actually true" he stated as he looked at Rydel.  
>"Really?" She asked surprised<br>"Of course, you're my best friend, you'll always have a top spot in my life" he said sweetly.  
>"Thanks Sid, you'll always have a top spot in my life too" she replied before going back to the social media sites. After trolling the sites, the duo ended up falling asleep in the living room watching a movie and cuddling.<p>

-

"We fell asleep" Rydel mumbled into Ratliffs chest as she slowly woke up to her alarm the next morning.  
>"Well let's fall back asleep, it's too early to be awake Delly" was Ratliff's mumbled reply as he pulled her closer into him. Snuggling closer into his warm chest she just nodded in agreement; they dozed back to sleep in each other's arms.<br>This time they were woken up by a camera flash and an, "Aww". They looked up at one another and just laughed at the compromising position they were caught in.  
>"Rydellington, you need to get ready to go. Rydel needs to be at the airport soon" Ratliffs mom told them, playing up their ship name.<br>"Mom..." Ell whined "did you have to use the ship name?"  
>"Yes, yes I did, now get up" she replied as she left the duo.<br>"She's gone to the dark side" Ell told Rydel who was still cuddled against his side.  
>"It's kinda funny" she replied looking up at him.<br>"It is a little funny" he conceded, "common Delly, we've got to get you to the airport. Your dad will kill me if you miss this flight"  
>"But you're so warm" she responded digging her head deeper into his chest "I don't wanna leave"<br>"You're warm too, but we gotta go beautiful" he responded as he kissed the top of her head, but still pulling her closer in his arms. Rydel froze at his words and actions, sure he had called her beautiful before, but never in that context, never accompanied by a kiss to her head, and never has he done that in the position they were in.  
>"Common Delly, we can grab Starbucks before you get on your flight" he bribed trying to cover his actions. He didn't know where his actions had come from, but it seemed natural and right. Letting her out of the embrace, he rose to his feet first, then pulled her up to stand and hug him. "Let's go" he said breaking their hug.<p>

After checking her baggage in they realized they had over an hour before her flight boarded. As promised, he took her to Starbucks in the Airport for their caffeine fix. Having time to kill, they opted to hang out in the seating area near the security checkpoint. Still a little tired, Rydel rested her head on Ell's shoulder, causing him to wrap his arm around her. As they talked and joked around, Ratliff started using left hand to play with Rydel's hands, intertwining their fingers ever so often.  
>"Want to play our favorite game of check the hashtags?" Ratliff asked, pulling out his phone. Rydel simply nodded as she took his phone out of his hand and opened his Instagram to look at hashtags. They looked through the R5 tag, and all the band members hash tags, the last one they looked at being rydellington as a fun joke. They laughed at some of the jokes, but came across several pictures of Rydel's previously posted mistletoe Instagram, and pictures of them with Ratliff's family, only his family was cropped out, leaving just the dynamic duo in the pic. The caption under almost all of them was "Now kiss". They laughed a little bit, but it just brought up feelings from earlier this morning.<br>"I should get going" Rydel said as she sat up from leaning on Ellington. He stood up to walk her to the security checkpoint, intertwining their hands. As they were in the archway to part ways they hugged goodbye and stayed embraced as he told her his plans to meet up with the rest of R5 in Denver.  
>"I'm gonna miss you Delly" he whispered, afraid of what her reaction will be.<br>"I'm going to miss you too Ell" she whispered back, looking up into his eyes. She started laughing to herself as she saw mistletoe hanging just above his head. He followed her eyes and instead of laughing, he decided to live up to tradition, and kissed her. He cupped her cheek kissing her deeply, not knowing if he would be able to do this again. She deepened the kiss even more enjoying her first kiss with her first major crush.  
>The security guard broke them apart with a cough, that's when they noticed they were holding up the line.<br>"I'll see you in a few days Delly" Ratliff said before kissing her cheek and walking away leaving Rydel feeling empty.

In Colorado

Stormie knew something was wrong when she picked Rydel up from the airport; her eyes didn't sparkle like they usually did after a weekend with the Ratliffs. During the drive from the airport to the timeshare Rydel didn't say a word, she hadn't said anything since the kiss, the perfect kiss. She sat in the front seat and just stared at her phone wondering if he was going to text her, or if she should text him. She didn't know what to do, not only about the texting but also about their relationship in general. When the Lynch ladies pulled up to their timeshare in the mountains Stormie tried to break the ice, "Have you texted Ellington and told him you made it here okay?" she asked.

"Umm…no mom, but I'll do that when I get inside" Rydel replied to her mom while grabbing her pink suitcase out of the trunk of the car. Rydel sped walked into the cabin and her room; she threw herself face first onto her bed before screaming into her pillow. She knew she needed to text Ell and let him know she got into Denver okay, she just didn't want to text him, but she didn't want to call him either. Debating on what to do, she came up with another solution; she would call the house phone. If Ellington picked up, she would talk to him, if it was someone else, she would tell them to let everyone know she made it to Colorado, and thank you for letting her stay with them.

As the phone rang she began to get nervous, she wanted Ell to answer, but at the same time she didn't.

"Hello?" A female voice answered from Orlando

"Hi Cheryl, it's Rydel" she replied a little sad it wasn't her drummer who answered.

"Hi sweetheart! Did you make it into Denver?" Cheryl asked

"Yeah, I was just calling to let you know I made it safely, and to say thank you for letting me stay with you. I had a lot of fun hanging out with you all"

"You are always welcome here sweetie, we love having you around" Cheryl gushed, "Would you like to speak to Ellington? I can go grab him from the living room" she suggested.

"No" Rydel replied a little to quickly, "I mean, no, it's okay, I can always call or text him on his cell" Rydel tried to cover her slip up

"Are you sure?" Cheryl asked again

"Yes ma'am, I will text him to let him know I got into Denver" Rydel replied

"Okay sweetie, I'll let you go than. Tell your family we say hello"

"I will!"

"Love you Rydel" Cheryl finished

"Love you too" Rydel said before ending the call and slumping even more into her bed.

In Orlando

He couldn't believe he actually did that; he kissed her then left her. What kind of guy does that to someone they like, someone they want a relationship with? Apparently he does that, a stupid drummer best friend does that apparently. As he sat on the couch with his head in his hands he heard his mom on the phone with someone, he just didn't know whom, and he didn't really care either. Caught up in his thoughts about what to do about the "Rydellington" situation, he didn't hear his mom come into the living room and take a seat next to him on the couch. It wasn't until she placed her hand on his knee and said "Ellington" that he realized she was there.

"Oh hey mom" he replied a little dazed

"So what happened between you and Rydel at the airport?" she asked, getting straight to the subject.

"Why do you think something happened while we were at the airport mom?" he asked a little flustered from his mothers intrusiveness.

"Well one, when I was just on the phone with her, I offered to hand the phone of to you and she refused before I could even take a breath, something she never does. And two, you are over here looking like you are about to pull your hair out, scream, or cry. I have only seen that happen with you in regards to two people, and seeing as you are no longer in a relationship and don't really have contact with one of the candidates, that leaves one other person" Cheryl explained

"She didn't want to talk to me?" Ellington asked

"Really that's all you got from that?" She asked

"Sorry, it just seemed like the most important thing" Ratliff explained with a laugh

"I guess you're right" she laughed with him, "but yeah, she didn't want to talk to you, she said she would text you. So are you going to tell me what happened? You two seemed really cozy and close this morning"

"We were, and things have been going great between the two of us lately. We've been getting a lot closer, always around each other, laughing and having a good time. It was great until more feelings started coming out from both of us the past few days and we've been flirting more and falling asleep in each other arms and we kissed at the airport. It was a magical kiss but we didn't talk about anything, I just left her to board her plane and I didn't say anything to her, and now she doesn't want to talk to me, which means I messed up. I don't know what to do mom" Ellington let out to his mom.

Cheryl just shook her head and laughed, "You messed up little one"

"Really mom, I didn't know?" he retorted sarcastically "Please help me fix this mom, I don't want to lose what we have" Ratliff looked at his mom with pleading eyes. She could tell through his eyes that he was distraught, and he needed to fix things with Rydel.

"Why don't you spend Christmas with the Lynch's" she suggested

"But…but mom, it's Christmas, I can't leave the family" Ell replied.

Taking his hands in hers, she looked at him with the love only a mother can show, "Why don't you spend Christmas Eve and morning with us, and we'll get you a flight where you can spend Christmas night with the Lynch's. They are your family too, so it only makes sense you spend time with them, and fix things with Rydel"

"Are you sure mom?" Ratliff asked once more for clarification

"Yeah, I love Rydel like a daughter, I want to see you all together and I think this I just what the two of you need" Cheryl replied, "Now go call her parents and see if it's okay with them"

"Thank you mom, you are the best ever" he told her before kissing her on the cheek and racing off to call the Lynchs.

Mark was in the study of their timeshare house when his phone began ringing. Before answering the call he looked to see who was calling him, surprised by the caller he answered in a tone reflecting his confusion, "Ellington?" he asked.

"Hi Mr. Lynch, how are you doing?" Ratliff asked from his end in Florida.

"I'm doing well, just a little confused on why you are calling me," the Lynch patriarch answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I know it may seem slightly random that I am calling you, but I wanted to talk to you about something" Ell's voice seeped with nervousness near the end of his sentence.

"Okay, what do you need to talk about?" Mark asked as he readjusted himself in his chair.

"Well Mr. Lynch, I umm…I…" Ratliff hesitated creating a fear in Marks mind about what this call could possibly be about, "Go on Ellington, I won't judge you on what you tell me"

"Well Mr. Lynch…I fell in love and I'm not sure what to do about it" words tumbling out of Ratliff's mouth

"I don't understand why this concerns me Ellington, shouldn't you talk to your father about this?" Mar asked.

"I have sir, but the thing is, I messed things up with the girl I fell for and I need her fathers help to fix it" Ratliff replied hoping Mark would get what he was saying.

"Okay, but I still don't underst…" realization dawning on Mark in he reply he quickly asked a question, "You fell in love with Rydel didn't you?"

"Yes sir"  
>"But you said you messed things up with her, what happened between you and Rydel?" Mark asked uncertain if he was ready to hear his answer.<p>

"Well, umm…I…I just messed up sir, and I was wondering if I could intrude on your Christmas to fix things with her?" Ratliff asked.

Mark wasn't sure, this boy had done something to his only daughter, he wasn't sure if he wanted him around her if Ellington wasn't going to tell him what he did.

"Of course you can come over for Christmas Ellington, it would not be an intrusion, you are part of the family!" a female voice said from the doorway. Stormie walked further into the room, shutting the door before she took a seat.

"Are you sure Mrs. Lynch?" Ellington asked, slightly relieved Stormie had overheard the conversation and answered.

"Of course we are sweetheart, however, you may want to talk to the boys about it first" she replied.

"Mr. Lynch, is it okay with you?" Ell asked, knowing he was going to be the toughest critic.

Thinking it over, he knew that 'Rydellington' was going to happen. His little girl had been in love with the boy for the longest time and he knew that Ellington would eventually fall for her too, he was just hoping for a few extra years with his little girl. Mark had had numerous conversations with Ryland on the side of the stage during shows talking about the duo and how they were 'endgame' as his youngest had put it. He couldn't keep his little girl away from boys forever, but at least the one who stole her heart was someone he could trust her with. "Of course you can come over, I just hope you know that if whatever mess you made with her doesn't get fixed, and her heart ends up broken you will have 5 very upset Lynch guys" Mark told him, attempting to scare the young man.

"If I can't fix it, you all are more than welcome to break me into a million pieces, it will match the internal emotions I were to have Mr. Lynch" Ratliff told him honestly.

"Well talk the boys and see what they say, when you have their okay have them let us know what is happening" Stormie chimed in.

"Yes ma'am. Thank you both for letting me come over for Christmas, I really appreciate it!" Ellington said before hanging up the phone.

"She gave her heart to a good guy Mark" Stormie said as she curled into her husbands side.

"I know, I just wish she hadn't of given it to him so early. I wanted her to stay my little princess a little while longer" He replied kissing her head.

"She'll always be our princess, she's just added a prince to the picture" Stormie replied.

Ellington knew this next part was going to be a bit more difficult then the last part, the brothers are always a little bit more protective then the dad. He knew the only way to talk to just the guys was to text Riker and have him get the guys together to face time him, so that's exactly what he did.

_Hey Riker, I need to talk to you and your brothers. Could you FaceTime me when you all can. Also please don't tell Rydel, I'll explain when we talk. –Ratliff_

To say Riker was a little confused when he read the text message was an understatement, but he did what he was told and collected his brothers into his and Rocky's shared room. Locking the door as his brothers called their drummer he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Hey guys!" Ratliff said as he waved to the Lynch boys.

"What up Ratliff!" they replied all together

"That was kinda creepy! Haha" Ratliff replied to the brother's unanimous response

"So what's going on that you need to talk to all of us?" Riker asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah, so…I was wondering if it would be okay with you all if I flew in for Christmas with you all?" He asked

"Duh!" "Of course dude!" and "We'd love to have you" chorused through FaceTime coupled with, "Why?" a response coming from the eldest brother.

"What? I'm not meaning to sound rude because I would love to have you here, but it seems somewhat out of the blue, and if that was all you wanted to ask, you have had Rydel here, so why? Why ask just us, why now, Why without Rydel?" Riker asked. His brothers knew he had a point so they looked the screen for answers.

"I knew you would be the toughest one to get this by" Ellington said partially to himself, partially to Riker. "Well, here goes nothing…Rydel and I kissed before she boarded her plane to join you all in Colorado. We kissed, and it was one of the most magical moments of my life, it felt right, but I messed up. I let her get on the plane without telling her how I felt, what I wanted us to be, really without speaking to her. I know I shouldn't have, and please don't kill me through the computer screen" he added the last statement on after seeing the looks on the brothers faces, "I know how to fix it, but I need to do it in person, I need to talk to her and let her know what is going through my head and my heart. I need her to know that I am in love with her, and that we are endgame, no ifs, ands, or buts. With that being said, there is something else I need to know, would you all be okay with me dating your sister if she'd have me?" Ratliff asked after his heartfelt words on his feelings toward their sister.

"Finally" was all that came out of Rylands mouth

"Huh?" Ell asked

"I think what Ryland was trying to say in that statement was, we all knew you two were going to end up together, you're endgame, we just didn't know when. You two belong together and you are already our brother so why not make it official?" Ross added

"Dude you know how I feel about you and Rydel. I am the captain of the Rydellington Ship!" Rocky said with a smile.

"Riker?" Ellington asked Rydel's only older brother

"What happens if you two try this and it fails? What will happen to the band? What will happen to our friendship? I love you like you were my own brother Ratliff, but what if this goes wrong and you break her heart? I can't let you do that to my baby sister man. I'm sorry, but I can't support it, not with everything on the line" The eldest brother replied, his younger brothers looking at him in shock.

"Riker I know why you're afraid for all of that, why do you think it took me so long to own up to my feelings? I'm not going to lie, I have had feelings for Rydel for a while, but I had Kelly to fall back on, I loved Kelly don't get me wrong, but she was my buffer. If I had Kelly I couldn't go for Rydel and I wouldn't be jeopardizing things with the band, but I don't have Kelly anymore, we broke up because she saw my feeling for Rydel. I can't contain my feelings for Rydel anymore, and I won't, just like I won't let "Rydellington" fail" He said, putting quotation marks around his ship name, "I won't let it fail because like I said before, and like Ross said, Rydel and I are endgame. I won't let us break up, or fall apart, or destroy the band because I won't let her go if she will have me" he finished looking at the leader of his band.

After hearing Ratliff's speech he knew there was no way around 'Rydellington', but he also knew that this would make his baby sister the happiest person in the world, so he replied with, "When do you fly in? I'll pick you up from the airport"

Christmas

Stormie and Rydel were in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner while the boys were out playing hockey. The Lynch boys had offered to help cook but after a breakfast fiasco caused by them, the mother daughter duo declined their offer. As the ladies were baking bread for dinner Stormie decided to ask Rydel what was wrong; seeing Rydel pound the dough was the icing on the passive aggressive cake Rydel had been since returning from Orlando.  
>"Rydel, sweetie, what's been going on with you the past few days? You haven't been yourself lately" Stormie asked as she placed her hands on top of her daughters.<p>

"Nothing mom, I'm fine" she said curtly

"Don't lie to your mother Rydel, I know something has been going on since you got back from Orlando. Did something happen while you were with the Ratliffs?" Stormie asked, knowing a little bit of the story she had learned from Cheryl. Ellington's last name seemed to be the trigger for Rydel as she sat down on a stool and started bawling. She didn't want to seem weak, she wanted to be happy, it was Christmas after all, however she was upset with herself and the drummer of R5. Rydel knew her mom would be the best person to talk to about this subject, knowing this, she stopped crying, wiped her eyes and looked at her mother who had also taken a seat on a kitchen stool.

"Ell and I kissed before I flew out here to meet you all, and we haven't talked about it, we haven't really talked at all since I left, and I don't know what to do mom. He kissed me right outside the security checkpoint, said he would see me after Christmas and then just left" Rydel explained.

"Ahh, well that's an interesting development in your friendship" Stormie replied, choosing her words wisely, hoping to elicit a response from her daughter.

"That's the problem mom, I don't want us to be just friends! When it was just the two of us together in Orlando things changed. We were flirting and having fun and cuddling, it was like we were a couple, and I want that, I want us together." she told her mom.

"Have you told him that?" Stormie asked

"How can I mom? He hasn't tried to talk to me at all since I left, and he just left me standing there. He clearly doesn't want anything to do with me now, let alone talk about a possibility of an 'us'! He hasn't even wished me a Merry Christmas!" Rydel replied, distraught about the one guy she wants but cannot have. Stormie got up and hugged her daughter, as she pulled her into the embrace she spoke, "Everything happens for a reason my love, sometimes it just takes a little while to figure that reason out." Rydel just nodded while still in her mothers embrace, she didn't have the words to respond. "Why don't you go take a nap while I finish the dinner up? Your brothers woke us up far to early for gifts, and I know you need some sleep before dinner" Stormie suggested as she looked at the time on the clock.

"Thanks momma, I'll just take an hour nap before I get ready for dinner" Rydel replied as she pushed her stool in before making her way upstairs.

Just as Rydel closed the door to her room, the side entrance to the kitchen opened up to reveal the Lynch boys and their dinner guest.

"Hi mom!", "Hi Stormie!" The boys chorused as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Hi boys, dinner is in an hour and a half, so please start getting ready in an hour. Boys can you take Ratliff's things up to whoevers room he is staying in, I would like to talk to him for a few minutes" Stormie told them.

"Ooohh someone's in trouble" the Lynch brothers replied simultaneously

As the boys took Ratliff's luggage upstairs, Ratliff took a seat on the stool Rydel had just occupied minutes earlier.  
>"She likes you a lot you know" Stormie started the conversation while putting the bread in the oven.<p>

"She does? She doesn't hate me?" Ell asked rather quickly.

Shaking her head, and laughing a little bit, Stormie replied with, "Well your aren't exactly on her good list at the moment, but she does like you. She doesn't know how to bring the subject up with you; she thinks that you don't want to talk to her. If you waited any longer than today, I don't think you would have been able to fix it."

"Well I'm glad I'm here today, I don't want to lose her, she's one of the most important people in my life. I don't know how I'm going to fix it though Stormie, what do I do?" He asked his second mother, his posture slouched, head in his hands.

"You tell her the truth sweetie, you tell her how you feel, how you know you messed up, and how you want to fix it" She told him. "Oh a gift is also helpful" she added on as an afterthought.

"Well I got her this, what do you think of it?" Ratliff asked as he pulled something out to show Stormie.

She put one hand over her heart and one over her mouth as she saw the gift. She knew her daughter would love it, almost as much as she loves the boy who will give it to her. "She's going to love it Ellington" she told him, using his first name for the first time in a while. "Why don't we start getting ready for dinner now" Stormie suggested as Ell put away the gift in his pocket, nodding in agreement with the suggestion.

Rydel was dressed in a red lace overlay dress with black leggings and boots; her hair in natural waves framing her face that had a minimal amount of make-up. It was a Lynch family tradition to dress up for Christmas dinner, something they had done since before the Lynch kids were born. As her brothers were taking forever to get ready for dinner, Rydel was setting the table in the dinning room. "Oh sweetie, can you add another place setting?" Stormie asked her daughter from the kitchen.

"Umm, okay mom. Who's joining us?" she asked, confused on who could possibly be joining them on Christmas.

"One of the boys friends, he flew in this morning" Stormie replied, thankful her daughter could not see her all knowing smirk.  
>Rydel continued to set the table, when she was done she started helping her mom bring the food from the kitchen to the dinner table. Just as the last of the food was put on the table, all 5 Lynch boys clambered down the stairs to join Rydel and Stormie in the dinning room. Each choosing a seat around the table, Rydel had a seat facing the opposite direction of the bedrooms; everyone had strategically placed themselves in a seating arrangement that would leave one seat open next to Rydel. Taking notice of the empty seat next to her, she looked to Rocky, who as on the other side of the open seat and asked, "Who is sitting here?"<p>

Hearing a perfect opportunity to join the family at the table, he walked into the dinning room as he said, "That would be me".

Rydel would know that voice anywhere, she quickly spun around to see her best friend, band mate, and crush walk towards her, "Ratliff?" she asked confused by his presence.

"Rydel" he teased back as he stood a few feet away from the table and Rydel. "What…what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Orlando with your family celebrating Christmas?" She asked, as she walked up to him slowly, still trying to grasp him being their with her, with her family for Christmas dinner.

"I am celebrating with my family" he replied happily taking her hand, "I celebrated last night and this morning with my blood family, and now I'm celebrating with my second family"

Rydel couldn't do anything but nod in response; she was still in shock that her family had kept this a secret from her. She was awoken from her trance as she felt a hand move some hair from out of her face, and rest on her cheek.

"I missed you Delly" Ratliff whispered as he brought her closer to him

"I missed you too Sid" she replied, trying not to cry as she pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Don't cry," He soothed her, noticing their audience he whispered, "Let's go sit down and eat dinner, we will talk later." Feeling her hesitancy to let go of him he placed a kiss to her the temple of her forehead then said, "I promise". Hearing his promise, Rydel let go of the drummer, but was surprised feel his hand intertwine with hers as they walked to the table.

"Thank you all again for having me over for Christmas" Ratliff told the entire Lynch clan as he took a seat between Rydel and Rocky.  
>"You're always welcome here Ellington" Mark replied from the head of the table, a smile evident on his face, an effect from the first real smile his only daughters had on her face in days.<p>

After Dinner

"Thank you again for the meal Stormie" Ratliff replied as he finished washing the dishes from the Christmas feast.

"Thank you for helping Rydel clean the dishes, none of the boys ever want to help their sister with chores" Stormied replied, raising her voice enough for her sons to hear her. "Rydel, why don't you go show Ratliff the all the snow and light covered houses in the area, maybe the skating area as well? Your brothers can finish drying the dishes" Stormie suggested

"Okay mom, thanks!" Rydel replied happily, one because she was done with dishes duty and two because she could finally spend sometime with Ratliff.

"First though, you two need a picture together; all cute with your matching outfits" Stormie pointed out to the pair. Ratliff had black slacks with a red button down shirt and black tie for the semi-formal dinner, matching Rydel's red dress. After taking a picture in front of the Christmas tree, Rydel and Ratliff bundled up before taking a walk outside. Grabbing Rydel's hand, Ratliff made sure their hands were always intertwined as they walked around the neighborhood in silence. It wasn't until the duo made it to the skating pond that Rydel broke the silence, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming for Christmas?"

Seeing her face had a slight frown Ellington turned to face Rydel; using his free hand he pushed her head up so they were looking at one another, "I was afraid that if I told you I was coming you would ask me to not visit" he answered honestly.

"Why would you think I would say that? You know I've always wanted you to spend Christmas with us here in Colorado. I've been trying to get you here for the past 3 years!" she slightly joked as the end.

"That was when we were just friends, now things are a little more complicated. I was stupid and let you leave without talking to you about anything that had happened. I was scared you wouldn't want to talk to me after I left you without a word, hell I knew you didn't want to talk to me, my mom told me so" He told her as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to you, I just didn't know what to say, I was scared, I also didn't think you wanted to talk to me after everything that happened" Rydel replied as she looked down at their intertwined hands

"Looks like we both got a little afraid and confused" Ellington suggested

"Looks like it"

A silence blanketed the duo as they stood foreheads connected, and hands intertwined.

"I'm in love with you Rydel Lynch" Ratliff said quietly, his eyes open wide trying to gage her reaction. Her face spelled out shock, but she had no words to say so he continued, "I've liked you for a while, even while I was with Kelley, but I knew that I couldn't hurt either of you by playing with your emotions, so I stayed with her to see if what I felt for her was stronger than what I felt for you."

"Was it?" Rydel asked quietly, looking down to her feet, afraid of the answer.

"No, that's why we broke up, we both knew that I wasn't supposed to be with her I was supposed to be with you" he replied, detaching their foreheads from one another so he could pull her face up to look him in the eyes.

"But you broke up in July, why wait until now to say anything?" she inquired

"I needed to see if you were interested in me too. That why when we went on that mini city tour over the summer I would spend more time with you, joke with you, and flirt with you. I wanted to see how you would react"

"You could have just asked me what I felt Ell, I would have been mostly honest with you" She told him as she snuggled her face into his chest, and pulled him into a hug.

"What do you mean mostly honest?" Ellington asked as he began to play with her hair.

"I probably wouldn't have said that I love you flat out, I would have hinted until you told me how you felt. A girl can't just blurt feelings out if they aren't reciprocated, it hurts to much when they aren't" She notified him.

"You love me?" Ratliff asked pulling away from her enough to see her face.

"Really, that's all you got from that?" She asked

"That's the important part. Do you love me Rydel Lynch?" He asked seriously.

"Yes, Ellington Ratliff, I love you too" She told him before pressing her lips to his lightly. Ratliff took it a little further, and deepened the kiss while running his hands through her hair. When they pulled apart they just looked at each other with a smile.

"I love you" Ratliff said again to his bands keyboardist.

"I love you too, but I'm really cold, so can we go inside?" Rydel asked shyly, her leggings and boots could only keep her legs warm for so long.

"Of course, I need to give you your Christmas gift anyways" he replied as they intertwined hands and headed back to their cabin.

When the duo walked back into the cabin they noticed the living room area was empty of her siblings and parents, it was odd, but they thought nothing of it while putting their shoes and jackets away. Ratliff led Rydel to the couch closest to the fire, and then grabbed her gift from under the Christmas tree. As Ratliff sat down on the couch with his legs up, Rydel took a seat in between his legs where her back was to his stomach. He placed his arms around her after putting the small box in her hands. He kept kissing the top of her head as she opened the box to reveal a silver bracelet with an inscription on it. "Ellington Lee Ratliff, this is so sweet!" Rydel gushed.

"Read the inscription out loud" Ratliff suggested

"_I'm talking bout starting off as friends, I'm talking bout real and not pretend. Rydellington 12.25.13. _Oh my goodness Sid this is the best gift" she gushed after reading the lyrics written on the bracelet.

"Well I hope this next one I have for you is better" He teased

"You got me another gift? Ell that's far too much" She replied while sitting up quickly to look at him.

"Nothing is to much for you! But you only get this next gift if you answer a question I have for you" Ratliff told her, looking into her eyes, "Rydel Mary Lynch, will you give me the honor of calling you my girlfriend?"

Rydel didn't know what to do except laugh and smile, "Ratliff you are one of the corniest and cheesiest guys ever, but I wouldn't want my boyfriend any other way" she said before placing a kiss on his lips.

"Well I'm glad I meet the qualifications of your boyfriend, and as the first official act as your boyfriend, here is your last Christmas gift" he replied as pulled out a smaller box and handed it to her while placing a quick kiss on her lips.

Rydel excitedly opened the box to find another piece of jewelry, this time a thumb ring with "Rydellington 12.25.13." written on it.

"I love it!" She said as she placed it on her left thumb, "Wait what's on the inside of the ring?" She asked as she realized it was not smooth.

"It's an imprint ring, and to match your bracelet, when you take the ring off it will leave, "_Here Comes Forever"_ on your thumb" Ratliff explained.

Rydel turned her body to completely face him, "Thank you for the best Christmas ever Ellington, I love everything, and I love you" She finished by pulling him into a rather deep kiss.

"FINALLY! RYDELLINGTON PREVAILS!" being yelled by Rocky broke the couple apart. The two looked up to see her brothers had been spying on them from the banner of the staircase.

"Really Rocky? Was that necessary?" Rydel asked as she turned a shade of pink.

"Yes Delly, yes it was" He retorted to his older sister.

"You all spied on us?" She yelled up to them

"We've known about this for the past few days baby sis, you've got to realize we would naturally have to spy on you" Riker told his younger sister, "Good job Ell, welcome to the Lynch clan…again I guess" Riker added to his drummer.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate all your help, but I'd really like to just spend some alone time and talk to my girlfriend for a little while" Ratliff told his best friends.

"We'll let you go "talk"" Ross said putting quotations around the word talk, while walking back to his room with his brothers.

"Just remember, no hanky panky" Ryland yelled before his brothers closed their door.

Ratliff and Rydel just laughed at the Lynch boys as they readjusted on the couch to where she was curled up into his side and they were facing the television to watch a movie. "I love you Ell" Rydel said looking up at him, "I love you too Delly" he replied before placing a kiss on her lips once more. "Best Christmas Ever" They whispered together before turning to watch White Christmas on the tv.


End file.
